Hi, I have a friend that belongs to the local county radio club and got him to take me to the monthly meeting in hopes of getting material to study for my Ham license. While I was there I saw an old neat looking set up on a table in the club house. I thought it was set up and belonged to the club. Near the end of the meeting it turned out that the gear was a gift to the club and would be auctioned off. The gear consisted of:Heathkit HW_101 TransceiverHP 23A PSLandliner speakerShure 520 SL micShure 444 D mic Well I won the auction at $40! If that wasn't enough the gentleman that donated the equipment grabbed me on the way out and told me there was an antenna that went with the radio if I wanted it! That turned out to be a Butternut 6 band vertical! I was wondering if there were anymore Heathkit fans here and what they think of this equipment? Thanks!

Hi Mac, Thanks for the encouraging words! Yes everyone at the club was very helpful and yes I noticed at age 52 years I was one of the youngest guys there. I was surprised when no one hardly bid on this setup! I shoot trap at my local Gun Club and I'm usually one of the younger guys there also! Don't know what the younger crowd is doing these days. I'm a Merchant Marine and have to go back to work(4 months) but want to try and get this station up so I can listen anyway. I have a Sony 2010 that I listen to the Hams on each morning in my shop but usually only get a one sided conversation. Was hoping with the Heath and a Butternut to be able to listen better anyway. Being an Engineer I've taken plenty of tests and hope to take my tech and general soon. Thanks!

I vote that you keep the HW 101 and the Butternut. IN ITS DAY, the HW 101 was a good, low cost, transceiver. By today's standards the HW 101 leaves a lot to be desired, but it is still a fine entry level rig. As I read your post, I assume you only want to listen. Of course the HW 101 is a transceiver, but it will allow you to listen to all the HAM bands (no WARC and no 160 meters and no 5 MHz), with just a long wire. I think you came out smelling like a rose getting all that gear for $40. If you want to sell it, I will give you $50 for the Heath stuff and you can keep the Butternut.

Hi, Thanks Dick for the kind offer but I think I'll keep everything! Yes I made out very well and I even like the retro looks of the Heath just sitting on my desk.The gentleman that had it before said it works very well and all he ever had to do with it was replace one tube so hopefully it's put together well. I have full intentions of getting my Ham license but until then would just like to listen to people talk,always enjoy that while working in my shop. Thanks!

The Butternut is not a "plug and play" antenna, but it isn't that hard to set up, especially for just receiving. If there's no manual with it, you can download one from http://www.bencher.com/pdfs/00366IZV.pdf.

Just follow the measurements in the manual for a start. They'll do fine for receiving.

73,

Lon - W3LKNaugatuck, Connecticut

Logged

A smoking section in a restaurant makes as much sense as a peeing section in a swimming pool.

Congratulation on winning the HW-101 setup. I recommend keeping it! Although the HW-101 will notbe as selective as the modern day radios, it willprovide you with many hours of enjoyment and that'sall that really matters!

I'm presently restoring a 1978 HW-101 and HP-23A. Irecommend reading the manual so you can get familiarwith the HW-101 and the HP-23A. The HW-101 manualhas a section in the back that tells you how theHW-101 works as does the HP-23A manual. I highlyrecommend you read both sections thoroughly so youunderstand what's going on with both units.

Depending on the year your HW-101 was marketed, thefinal tubes may be 6146A's or 6146B's. If theyare 6146A's, don't panic and rush to replace them with 6146B's. If the "A's" are producing good outputthere's no need to replace them with 6146Bs!

I recommend reviewing a few documents. I've providedthe addresses below to access each document.

The first one has a link titled "The 6146 Familyof Tubes". Click on that link and read the document.Pay close attention to "neutralizing" issuespertaining to the different versions of the 6146tubes.

Years ago, when my son had his ticket (since lapsed, other major committments) I gave him my old 101. He loved it and it provided him with many hours of enjoyable amateur radio contacts. He passed it on to another French ham who also used it for quite some time. You may want something else later, but for now, enjoy it. For free, take...for cheap, keep.

The HW-101 is a VERY good radio. It doesn't have all the modern features. It's main short fall is no RIT.

For everything else, it will hold it's own and it can be easily and inexpensively updated.

For CW, if it doesn't have it, you can add the Heathkit 400 Hz crystal filter. If you want more selectivity on SSB, you can cascade (add) a second 2.1 kHz SSB in series with the first. This eliminates filter blowby. I have an SB-303 set up this way and you can hear the difference.

The HW-101 produces CW the right way, not by injecting a audio since wave like Collins did on the KWM-2. So it's a better CW rig than Collins!

AADE and other vendors make inexpensive digital dials. AADE is the best integrated but any digital read out will improve your rig. There are some inexpensive ones.

I believe that rig has ALC and two speed AGC.

You should also be able to replace the 6AU6 receiver front end with the more expensive 6HS6 used in the SB-102. This will give you .35 uV receiver sensitivity and you'll be able to pull in the weak ones.

You did well!I snagged a similar setup from our club sale. I've hada lot of fun applying the many audio and stability mods to it. Every time I've had it on the air, I've snagged a contact right away. Signal reports indicate good audio with it.

"You should also be able to replace the 6AU6 receiverfront end with the more expensive 6HS6 used in theSB-102. This will give you .35 uV receiver sensitivityand you'll be able to pull in the weak ones."

The HW-101's RF and first mixer's are already 6HS6.No need to swap them out. However, in a pinch, a6AU6 can be used as a substitute for a weak 6HS6.

The HW-101's does have an ALC circuit that controlsthe overall RF output level of the transmitter butonly in sideband. CW and TUNE modes uses a negativeDC bias voltage obtained from the HP-23 power supply's-130VDC bias voltage through the front panel's CW gaincontrol to control the HW-101's output, not the ALCvoltage.

CW break-in uses grid blocking keying to the sidetoneoscillator amplifier, the first and second IFamplifiers along with the driver. Relays RL1 and RL2are energized by the RELAY amplifier by rectifyingthe sidetone oscillator signal into a positivevoltage that is applied to the RELAY amplifier'sgrid causing it to conduct, energizing relays RL1and RL2. The sidetone is also fed to the secondaudio amplifier stage so it can be heard in thespeaker or headphones. The sidetone does not appearat the input to the speech amplifier nor is it use to"modulate" the transmitter in CW mode.

The HW-101 does not have selectable AGC. The receiver's AGC is produced by rectifying the outputof the second IF amplifier by the dual diode V13A/B.The AGC hang time is controlled through the RC timeconstance components R124/C124 and R117/C110. The AGCvoltage is then fed to the RF and both IF amplifiersto control the receiver's gain. Manual gaincontrol is by varying a negative bias voltage throughthe front panel's RF gain control. The negative biasvoltage is obtained from the -130VDC bias supplyfrom the HP-23 through the rear 11 pin socket pin 1.This voltage is applied just as the AGC voltage isto the grids of the RF and IF amplifiers.Rotating the RF gain control counter clockwiseapplies a higher negative bias voltage to thegrids of the RF and IF amplifier, lowering thereceiver gain. The opposite occurs by rotatingthe RF gain control clockwise.73MikeW5RKL

I started out using an HW-101 when I first started in Ham radio (about 1989 or so). A gentleman from my church, who worked for Heath (we lived in St. Joe, MI), put it together for my father and me. It was a very nice, solid rig.

I still have it, and am looking to get it going again, mostly for my father. I'd like a newer rig to do digital

Copyright 2000-2015 eHam.net, LLC
eHam.net is a community web site for amateur (ham) radio operators around the world.
Contact the site with comments or questions.
WEBMASTER@EHAM.NETSite Privacy Statement